1. Technical Field
The present invention relates generally to a data processing system, and in particular, to a method and apparatus for processing data. Still, more particularly, the present invention provides an improved method, apparatus, and computer instruction for managing transfer of data in a network.
2. Description of Related Art
The Internet is a global network of computers and networks joined together by means of gateways that handle data transfer and the conversion of messages from a protocol of the sending network to a protocol used by the receiving network. On the Internet, any computer may communicate with any other computer with information traveling over the Internet through a variety of languages, also referred to as protocols. The set of protocols used on the Internet is called transmission control protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP).
The Internet has revolutionized both communications and commerce, as well as, being a source of both information and entertainment. For many users, e-mail is a widely used format to communicate over the Internet. Additionally, the Internet is also used for real-time voice conversations.
With respect to transferring data over the Internet, the World Wide Web environment is used. This environment also is referred to simply as “the Web”. The Web is a mechanism used to access information over the Internet. In the Web environment, servers and clients effect data transaction using the hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP), a known protocol for handling the transfer of various data files, such as text files, graphic images, animation files, audio files, and video files.
On the Web, the information in various data files is formatted for presentation to a user by a standard page description language, the hypertext markup language (HTML). Documents using HTML also are referred to as Web pages. Web pages are connected to each other through links or hyperlinks. These links allow for a connection or link to other Web resources identified by a universal resource identifier (URI), such as a uniform resource locator (URL).
A browser is a program used to look at and interact with all of the information on the Web. A browser is able to display Web pages and to traverse links to other Web pages. Resources, such as Web pages, are retrieved by a browser, which is capable of submitting a request for the resource. This request typically includes an identifier, such as, for example, a URL. As used herein, a browser is an application used to navigate or view information or data in any distributed database, such as the Internet or the World Wide Web. A user may enter a domain name through a graphical user interface (GUI) for the browser to access a source of content. The domain name is automatically converted to the IP address by a domain name server (DNS), which is a service that translates the symbolic name entered by the user into an IP address by looking up the domain name in a database.
Users employ browsers to access data on the Web. Additionally, these browsers and other programs are used in business transactions. For example, a user may purchase goods or services from a business through a Website. Often times in retrieving data or completing a business transaction, the traffic is required to be encrypted to provide for maintaining the security and confidentiality of the information. In purchasing goods or services, the user may provide bank account information or credit card information for payment. Clearly, the user only wants the business offering the goods or services to see this information. In another example, a user may access personal medical information from a hospital Website. This information also is sent in an encrypted form. One encryption scheme is secure sockets layer (SSL). This standard is a widely used security protocol on the Internet. SSL is used to securely send credit card and other sensitive data to a business' Web site.
Various network appliances are employed to accept inbound encrypted traffic on a specific port. This port may be configured to either end the outbound traffic from a network appliance in an encrypted form or an unencrypted form. Mixing of encrypted and unencrypted outbound traffic cannot occur with currently available network appliances. These appliances include, for example, load balancers, routers, and firewalls. In some situations, such as in an enterprise environment, different types of traffic flow over an internal firewall protected network. Some of the traffic may not need encryption. For example, all traffic with passwords may need encryption while other forms of traffic do not need encryption.
Currently, the different types of traffic flow through different network routes or paths in which some are totally encrypted while others are unencrypted. This type of architecture results in higher capital expenditures, as well as, increased administration and network management.
Therefore, it would be advantageous to have an improved method, apparatus, and computer instructions for encrypting and unencrypting traffic in a network appliance.